Wish Mom Was Here
 

Hello,
I am not sure how this will be recived but I am going to take a chance. I am a 50 year old man. My mother was a master quilter and influenced by here I have worked hard to become a leather worker. I keep finding myself dreaming of quilting. I end up looking at sewing machines late into the night online and have been colecting my cutting tools and mats. Working with leather I am no rookie to measuring and sewing. My Mother once told me under her breath that she was a fabric snob. As I look over the quilts she made me I can see why. After years of hard use and abuse that only a young man would give to a hand made quilt I have noticed that all my mothers quilts have only become mr soft and show very little damage. Ok so this is my first shot of asking with respect about were do I start when I begin to buy fabric for my first quilt project. If I had known I would get this urge to quilt I would have picked my Moms brains. What kind?, Thred count?, Maker?, any advice would be greatly welcome. I will spen hours reading other post trying to figure this out. thank You Dan dtdthornton

Welcome to the quilting world (and to the quilt board)! I think the best place to start would be a local quilt shop (LQS). Check google for quilt shops in your area. They are staffed with knowledgeable people eager to share the joy of quilting. There you can get acquainted with the best quality quilting cottons and ask any questions you have.

Quilt guilds are usually ecstatic when a man joins, and they're a great source of information, examples, classes, etc. Quilt fabric doesn't have a high thread count (somewhere around 70, higher for batiks) but it shouldn't be thin or stiff. If you look at sites online that sell quilting fabric you will see lots of major manufacturers and designers represented. Even Walmart and JoAnn's carry some decent fabric, along with a lot more that is of lesser quality. If you go in to JoAnn's and handle the fabric in different parts of the store (and look at the difference in prices) you will soon be able to recognize better quality by how it feels. JoAnn's is also a good place to buy quilting tools, but be sure to shop when you can use a coupon or when the item is on sale. Then go to a LQS and you will find that almost all of the fabrics feel like the best ones at JoAnn's. These quilt shop quality fabrics can be purchased online as well.

There are quite a few craftsy classes. Also some of the paid ones are very nice. I would start there since you have the supplies. Welcome to quilting. It's nice you can share in your moms traditions. I would buy fabric from the quilt shop if you want quality products. There are also some great online sites like missouriquiltco, greenfairyquilts, batik etc., connecting threads

I think the Missouri Star Quilt Co is a good place to start. The owner Jenny Donn specializes in precut fabrics grouped together in "collections" (40 different fabrics that go along with one another without you having to pick each fabric out one at a time.) She has also simplified patterns to use these precuts and has made many, many you tubes to show you how to make many simple quilts. Now she has a new program where you buy the kit, put it together, send it back to her where she quilts it for you and returns it back to you done. She is trying very hard to get new people to start quilting. This is at the opposite end of the spectrum from your mom's skill level, but a great place to start.

Missouri Star Quilt Co is great because Jenny does videos. You can watch how the quilts are made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05OwI46u1oY there are tons of videos

They also carry good fabric and notions - anything they carry would be good

I love Fabric.com for buying fabric too

I bet your momma is smiling about you thinking of making a quilt :)

Thank You Lisa,

I should have been more clear about my situation. I work for the RailRoad and have had an injury that has left me kinda homebound for at least another 8 to10 weeks at least. I was hopeing to shop on line. I realize that I will need to build up a "STASH" of fabric so I was planing on starting on a few small projects and over time build up a stock pile. I have a old Nelco sewing machine that runs like a watch. I picked it up for cheap and have been practicing on it. I also found a Consew 230 industrial machine that after buying a new switch found that it also runs great. I have gotten lucky as far as sewing machines go but I just have no idea were to start when buying fabric. 100% cotton? Fat quarters? this is about all I know so far. I just do not want to order a bunch of material and find out later that it is not right for quilting. I hope I am not sounding frantic. I am a crafts person. I have a sewing room I use for leather work. I spend at least three hours a day working in this room. I feel that with a little help I could be on my way. I was thinking of starting wit a quilt made of 6 in squares just to get my feet wet. So, is there a on line shop that anyone might recomend and any info on fabric typs would be greatly appreciated.

Respectfully
Dan

WOW!
Thank You so much everyone.

Dan

Thank You Very Much,
Great video.

I browse and purchase quilting fabric on Amazon. The nice thing is they have "packs" of precut fabric, like 5" squares. I've been very pleased with the quality of the fabric. Usually I get the ones that come from "Hancock's of Paducah" or Fabric.com. (These are some of the vendors on Amazon.).

welcome to the world of quilting!